Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman [book review]

Welcome to Owl Book World! If you’re new here then my name is Kaili. I created this blog a couple of years ago to talk about the books I’ve really enjoyed and some I ended up not enjoying so much. Today I’m writing a review of Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman. This is a horror/thriller book that will throw you completely on a roller coaster.

If you enjoy this review then make sure to subscribe to my newsletter. It would mean the world to me and it will help you stay up to date on all blog posts and book-related content.

Whisper Down the Lane book summary:

Whisper Down the Lane takes place over two different timelines and follows Sean and Richard. There’s a lot about Richard’s past he doesn’t want people to know about. In fact, he’s carefully managed to forget his past because only the present is important. He just recently married and has the perfect opportunity to become the father her son, Elijah, doesn’t have. When the school’s pet rabbit is ritualistically killed on school grounds, Richard is the first to find it. It doesn’t help that he finds a birthday card addressed to him next to the rabbit. 

This book also follows Sean back in the eighties. He’s five years old and just moved to Greenfield, Virginia with his mother. Sean is being bullied at his new school and his mother doesn’t know it. When a letter is sent to the parents of Sean’s school letting everyone know that a teacher is being investigated. A little white lie from Sean engulfs the town and unfortunately, a lot of innocent people get in trouble.

What I thought of Whisper Down the Lane:

I am so so happy that I was able to get an advanced copy of Whisper Down the Lane. The book sounded pretty creepy and I love pretty much anything creepy. For some reason, over the past few months I haven’t exactly been reading too many horror books and I’m not really sure why. Horror is my go-to so I guess I needed a little bit of a break from it. Taking a break actually helped because I enjoyed this one.

The main reason I ended up picking this book up is the cover. I don’t what it is about books that throw supernatural elements into the story but I absolutely love them. This is partly why the synopsis sounded good to me too!

The Characters

This book follows Sean and Richard. Sean is a five-year-old kid and Richard is a grown man who just recently got married. Sean is a little kid who gets picked on a lot even though he’s a good kid. When he tells a little white lie it gets a lot of people in trouble who did nothing wrong. Even though he did something wrong I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He had gone through a lot and when he does something that he thinks won’t really harm anyone it does end up harming a lot of people. It upends his life and a lot of others completely. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with Sean. I kind of feel like we don’t get to know him very well.

Now Richard I really really like it. He’s an art teacher that just recently married. The woman he married actually has a child that’s in his class. Even though the kid is his stepchild he still wants him to think of him as a father since his real father isn’t around. There seem to be just as many bad step-parents out there as it is good. So, it’s good to read a book that includes a good parent. Despite that, he has some secrets and things don’t exactly end well towards the end of the book he still wants to include Elijah in his life. That’s such an awesome way to be!

The Plot

So my only issue with this story is that I don’t exactly consider it horror. Borderline horror… maybe. But I see this story as more of a thriller than a horror story. Don’t get me wrong though I still really enjoyed the story despite it not really being fully horror. The pacing of the story is really good and keeps you interested. The ending is a little bit predictable but it’s still really good. It ended up being one of those things that didn’t bother me so much. 

Have there been any books that you’ve enjoyed but were still able to kind of guess how it was going to end?

If you enjoy this review make sure to check out my review for Children of Chicago.